The year 1919, was known as the "Year of Influenza." Many people died. Many women who were pregnant lost their babies. Often both mother and baby died.
I was born (Elsie) Marian Palm April 10, 1919, at my grandparents home at 1314 10th St. S., Fargo, North Dakota. Because of the flu, I was born a seven-month baby and weighed five pounds. My parents were married March 14, 1914, in Moorhead, Minnesota. They were Fritz August Palm and Anna Matilda Eik. A sister, Myrtle Edith and a brother, John Alvin were older than I. Two years after I was born we had a baby sister, Pearl Evelyn.
I often spent a night at Grandma Palms. She lived only one mile west of us. I always slept with grandma and I recall how every night (in spite of her rheumatism and she always used a cane as long as I can remember) she always knelt by her bed to pray. She prayed in Swedish, which I could not understand, but I knew the word "velsigna" meant "bless" and I heard our names in prayer. My life has been enriched knowing I had parents and grandparents who prayed for me.
I remember Christmas at grandma's house. We had a lutefisk meal, with all the relatives seated around a large table. The tree was all trimmed and at the appropriate time, the candles were lit. It was so beautiful and we children (and cousins) were delighted and happy, but all of a sudden the tree caught fire. My Aunt Minnie Torkelsen grabbed it and ran outside. She burned her hand quite badly and I remember grandma made a paste (something like soda, flour and water) wrapping it well. I felt so sorry for Auntie. It must have been very painful!
I loved my Aunt Minnie. Whenever she sat down to play the piano, I was immediately by her side enjoying every minute.
Dad's parents gave him a quarter of land near their home where Dad built up his farm. He built a large three-story house with lightning rods on the roof. There was a full basement. In it was a cistern the same size as the kitchen located just below it. We always had nice soft water in our cistern. I do remember some very dry summers, but I can't ever remember being without water, either in our well or in the cistern. We had to pump it up by hand into the kitchen. The pump was handy, right at the kitchen sink.
Our basement had a potato bin and a couple coal bins where we kept lignite and briquettes. There was ample room for laundry facilities. Mom had a washing machine run by an engine which dad sometimes used in the granary. She had a clothes wringer which she could attach to the machine. Two tubs fit on to a rack which folded down and the wringer could be moved to each as needed. I remember she put bluing in one of the rinses. I remember she heated the water in an oval copper boiler on the kitchen range. The water was always pumped and filled by the pail full into the boiler the night before. Because it stood on the stove all night, the chill was taken off and it heated faster the next morning when the fire was built. Mom made her own soap and I remember her carving soap into the boiling hot water. She carried the hot water by the pail. One time she fell on the steps and burned her legs quite badly. As I watched, I remember hurting for her.
The clothes were all put into the wicker basket, carried up the cement basement steps to be hung on the nice big clothes line in the back yard. The posts were solidly sealed into cement blocks, making a sturdy clothes line.
Our basement was a nice roomy one, but I hated to have to go down there, especially if I was barefoot. There were lizards down there. The cement floor was cool, and it was the only place where we could cool the milk and butter (in crocks). I was often assigned to get milk or butter at meal time. Sometimes I had to churn butter in the basement. We had a tumble churn and sometimes we had to churn 2-3 hours before it finally turned to butter. That was a long tedious job and we often took turns. We were well rewarded with a nice cool drink of buttermilk. Yummers! We sold butter and cream at the grocery store in town where we bought our groceries.
The cellar door! I remember in the spring when we had lambs. They played a game on our cellar door. They would line up, and one by one they would walk up the cellar door, go to the one side, jump down and go around to the end of the line to do the same thing all over again when it came their turn. What fun they had! How we enjoyed watching!
We had a slop pail that sat on the floor next to the kitchen sink. All the sink water drained to the cesspool but the slop pail was food for the pigs. Any garbage, extra milk, etc., went into the slop pail and out to the pigs.
Saturday was always bath day. The old round tub was taken down from the nail in the hall. The kitchen doors were all closed and the stove had a nice fire. The oven door was opened to help heat up the place. Chairs around the tub helped promote privacy and we each took our turn in the tub. One time I got too close to the stove and I got burned on my seat. Ouch, that hurt!
We had no electricity and no bathroom, so we all used the path to the outhouse where the Sears Catalog served as toilet tissue. Besides that, the pictures were very entertaining!
On ironing day we heated the sad irons on the cook stove so we always had to have a good fire, but in the summer time, we heated the irons on the 3-burner kerosene stove.
Of course we girls had to play house! It was in the trees, not a building, just rooms divided by twine tied from tree to tree. In our living room we had an old folding cot. On days when we played house, we brought a quilt to cover it. It looked nice, but was far from comfortable, sitting on these springs. In our kitchen we had an old wood heater where we baked our mud pies. Oh, what fun! We had a table too, but all our other furniture was made from wooden boxes. It was really exciting when we would see mother coming through the trees carrying a syrup pail. We knew she'd been baking! Was it cookies or was it doughnuts? We gave mom the best seat in the house which was the cot. We others sat on wooden boxes or pails turned upside down, and then we'd eat the goodies that mother brought. What pleasant memories! A lovely party.
As a child, I had only one doll. It had a cloth body with a china head and it got a lot of loving. As I grew older, I tried to sew clothes for it. We girls spent hours pushing our dolls in the big old black baby buggy that each one of us had slept in as babies. When we weren't pushing dolls, we tried to get the kittens to stay under the blankets without much success, but we tried.
For games we kids played hide and go seek, tag, jump rope, hop scotch and marbles. We played x's and o's, hangman, guessing games or we read. My other sister and brother had ice skates and learned to skate on the pond. Pearl and I ran and slid on the ice and were happy. We also played "fox-n-geese." We enjoyed playing in the snow making angels and played with our sled.
We usually had a big garden. Dad fixed it so the windmill pumped water from the well to the garden. Our windmill always fascinated me. Windmills still fascinate me. It was always so exciting when dad would climb up on the windmill to see if he could spot where the cattle were grazing. The windmill worked good when the wind blew to pump water for the cows and horses. I remember a few times when the wind failed to cooperate and we had to pump the water ourselves. That was tiring! We took turns - the cattle had to have water.
We had a cream separator and each of us kids stood there with our cups for a drink of nice warm milk as it came out of the spout. Yummers! It was delicious!
And I remember having to wash the separator. To reach I had to stand on a chair. The worst part was the disks. They had to be washed one by one and it seemed to take forever.
One might wonder how we spent our winter evenings. I have pleasant memories. Our house was heated with the pot bellied heater set up in the dining room each winter and of course, the kitchen range threw heat. In the evenings, dad would take his violin and sit near the heater. Soon the whole family was gathered around and we sang while he played. After some time of singing together, mom would read from the Bible and then we would pray. This time spent together was very special.
We had an old organ, but it was kept upstairs, because it was in bad shape. I loved to play that organ. We used to quarrel about who was going to play. So if I was playing the organ, and mom asked me to get a pail of water, I would leave a note saying, "As soon as I carry water, I'm going to play the organ." It helped solve some quarrels. In later years, we got a piano but we never had piano lessons.
My younger sister, Pearl, was little and cute. She was in first grade when she was chosen to ride in a float in the annual parade on Play Day at Cooperstown. She was dressed in a dainty and frilly white net dress sparkling with sequins. She was so cute and I loved it.
I was always afraid when we saw tramps walk past our farm house and still more afraid when they came in. They always asked for food. If dad was not around, mom would fix them a sandwich or something with coffee and bring it to them so they could sit in the shade and eat it. Mom was an excellent cook. She was known in the neighborhood for her good homemade bread. I can still remember coming home from school smelling homemade bread. We would each promptly have a fresh bun. I can almost taste it now! She made other goodies, too. Sometimes, especially at Christmas time we had lutefisk and lefse. She also made flat bread and doughnuts. No one ever made doughnuts as good as mom. When we were younger we had many meals of just bread and thick sour cream sprinkled with sugar. Sometimes we just had bread and milk. We'd break up a slice of bread in a glass, sprinkle it with sugar and fill the glass with milk. We were never allowed to complain about our food and always ate everything whether we liked it or not. I wasn't too fond of liver, nor did I like spinach, but dad always put just a little on my plate and I had to eat it along with everything else. So I ate it, and I learned to like it. I'm glad my parents insisted that we learn to eat everything.
Another thing mom made was a cheese called poltost from sour milk. She kept it on top of the warming oven to ripen. It had caraway seed in it and it was delicious on homemade bread.
A special day! Every summer mom would pack a picnic lunch and we would go berry picking down by the Sheyenne River. We would pick June berries and chokecherries. What a fun day! The next day we helped mom make sauce, jam and jelly. She often mixed rhubarb with it. Mom did a lot of canning: meat, vegetables, fruit, jams and jellies. Our basement cupboard was full. We had no freezer or fridge, we had to can. Some of the meat I remember, was packed in large crocks with hot lard poured over it. The lard would harden and would keep the meat for quite some time, especially in the winter time.
Mom sewed for all of us. Our neighbors would give us their cast off clothing. Mom would wash and rip each garment, cut it and sew it into whoever needed what. How happy and proud we were when we got new dresses. For school we wore long black stockings and long legged underwear. It took a long time to get those long legs neatly folded inside the stockings. In the summer time, we went barefooted and we were brown like little Indians. On Sundays or church, we always had long white stockings. We could never wear anklets, because we were to be modest. And we never wore pants or slacks in those days. They were not in>Mom sewed for all of us. Our neighbors would give us their cast off clothing. Mom would wash and rip each garment, cut it and sew it into whoever needed what. How happy and proud we were when we got new dresses. For school we wore long black stockings and long legged underwear. It took a long time to get those long legs neatly folded inside the stockings. In the summer time, we went barefooted and we were brown like little Indians. On Sundays or church, we always had long white stockings. We could never wear anklets, because we were to be modest. And we never wore pants or slacks in those days. They were not in style at that time.
I remember one pair of shoes I really hated. They were hand-me-downs. My big sister had worn them, too. They were brown high top laced shoes. They weren't all that comfortable and I imagine they looked every worse. Anyway I disliked them very much.
Sunday School and church was very much a part of our lif>Sunday School and church was very much a part of our lifestyle. We children were all shy. In church, we all sat together as a family. More than likely, we slept through the message. It was five miles to church and if it rained, the road would have deep ruts. Often we would get stuck and have to be pulled out with horses.
If I'm not mistaken, I remember dad's first car. It was a Dort with celluloid squares in the curtains. The curtains could be taken off in the hot weather. It had fenders and running boards. It had to be started by cranking it.
I remember a car my Uncle Oscar had when he was courting Donalda. It was a coupe and it had a rumble seat.
When I was six years old, I started school. We lived only 2 1/2 miles from school, but it was quite a bit farther by the time we went the whole route by bus.
One day in the first grade, Miss Langdal asked us how many were born in the U. S. of America. Every hand was raised but mine. "Well, Marian, where were you born?" I very proudly answered, "I was born in Fargo." Now Fargo was only 100 miles from our farm home, but it took so long to get there I was sure it could not be in the United States. Well, I had a lot to learn!
Our school was a consolidated school and we had two teachers. Miss Grace Langdal taught all four grades in the primary room. She was a delightful teacher and I had her for four years. Then I found myself in fifth grade in what we called the 'big room', grades 5-8. Miss Helen Anderson was the teacher.
In grade eight, we had a man teacher, Mr. Overby. We all loved him and I think he was the best thing that ever happened in Bartley School. Eighth grade was fun, but we worked hard and learned a lot.
Graduation from eighth grade was a big thing. All the schools in Griggs County had their graduates come to the Cooperstown Auditorium for one big graduation. But the year I graduated, Mr. Overby arranged to have our graduation (there were eight students) at Bartley School with a nice program. He had arranged for a boys quartet from Cooperstown High School to come and sing. Ken Loge sang tenor in that quartet.
Cooperstown Bible Camp (near the Sheyenne River) was about 12-15 miles from our home. I remember the first years of the camp, the big tent with sawdust on the floor. Every Sunday during camp, we were there all day. Mom would pack a picnic lunch. If our family wasn't lucky enough to
get a picnic table, the food was set on a blanket spread on the ground. Often several families would pool their food and we would eat together, sitting on tree stumps, car fenders or just the bare ground.
As we children grew older, we stayed at camp all week and our parents came on Sunday. That was the highlight of my year. While I was in grade school (at camp) I asked Jesus to come into my heart. I lived a pretty sheltered life, but I knew I was a sinner, because the Bible says "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." I was told that Christ died for my sins. He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh to the Father, but by Me." Well, if I wasn't going to heaven, there was only one other place to go and that was to hell. I surely didn't want to go there!
I remember raising my hand at the end of one of the services. My pastor's wife prayed with me and I asked the Lord Jesus to forgive my sins and come into my heart and life. It was as simple as that. He cleansed my heart and I became a child of His. Later during my high school days, I committed my whole life to Christ.
The Lord has been so special to me. He's been a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. It's been so good to be able to pray about everything, even the smallest things. The Lord has heard and answered so many of my prayers. Many times he answered over and above what I could even ask or think.
I went to Hannaford High School, the same school my dad had attended. In fact, I had one of the same teachers he had, Minnie C. Anderson.
I graduated from high school in 1937. Ours was the first class to graduate in the brand new Hannaford Auditorium. We were 28 graduates, the largest class ever.
Then came the Great Depression in 1937-38. That was the same year my dad lost his farm. It was hard times! Many of the farmers around lost their farms. Some struggled through and bought them back again, but my parents had an auction sale and sold out everything but some household goods. We moved to Fargo where new adventures awaited us.
Source: Hannaford Area History North Dakota Centennial 1889 - 1989 Page 214